Paintings are fundamentally depictions. And although there has been an evolution of what or how these depictions occur, our current historical circumstance will likely lead to an unprecedented scarcity of it in the future.
Depicting our world has become the domain of digital professions, photography and writing, which increasingly are hosted and function in a digital commercial space. In our current year 2025, complete swaths of record and depiction exist only as digital objects. Lack of technological literacy and the incentive of convenience have created a world where “depiction” of our world has become less archival, less accurate, and less accessible for future generations.
Digital works rely on machines to be viewed. Machines break, machines fail to be compatible, machines need a knowledgeable operator. Hard drives decay, cloud services can be turned off in an instant. There’s no guarantee that a digital file is compatible with future devices (does your computer have a floppy drive?). How would you ever hope to find a “true” image of the Mona Lisa on the internet filled with a billion-computer bot generated fake versions (especially if you don’t know what a Mona Lisa is supposed to look like)? What if the people who own the machines/platforms limit what is accessible for ideological reasons?
A physical painting is unmediated and archival. It requires only yourself to see the image, and it can exist on its own. Thus, the necessity of art as a depiction of our time has returned with an altered function, which is the current project of my art in painting: to preserve and depict “what it felt like” for humans living in our current time. These paintings are intended for the historians of the future who look for signs of “what did it feel like to be in that specific moment in history”. The paintings have properties that are instantaneously apparent and unmistakable as a painting crafted by a person expressing human experiences. This can only occur with a sincere observation of our current social and political times by a subjective observer.
The pandemic foregrounded the effects of late-stage capitalism, leaving no one untouched by a specific cynicism. Every interaction has become a means to gain clout or to provide access to you as a product. Irony has eclipsed higher self-awareness and meaningful criticism. The current sense of isolation reflects an awareness of the desire for sincerity. Postmodernism implies meaning has to be made up by ourselves, but we have come to realize that there is a burden in doing so. The anxiety comes from attempting to form a worldview that is both sincere, while being aware that we are utilizing a postmodernist framework to build that world view.
This is why it is necessary to respond to and depict the current social and political landscape in a way that preserves seemingly basic experience. The most fundamental concept of “what did it feel like to be alive then” is what is most likely to be lost in our time.
Hiroshi Sato was born in Gamagori, Japan. From the age of three to fourteen Hiroshi Sato lived in Tanzania, East Africa. During this period his world could be separated into three places. The first was the inside of the house; filled with stories of his parents, books, and movies. The second, was the outside world of an alternate culture and landscape. The third was the place his culture was supposed to be, Japan. The third was a place that existed as a pseudo fictional place in his head, only confirmed to be real by brief visits to Japan once a year.
Hiroshi Sato’s work has been featured in various publications such as Fine Art Connoisseur, Juxtapoz Magazine, Visual Art Source and Art Business News Magazine.
Born Japan 1987
Education
2015 Academy of Art University, MFA Painting
2012 Academy of Art University, BFA Painting
2006 Atlanta College of Art, Foundations
Awards and Honors
2020 Martin Shallenberger Artist in Residence, Cheekwood Museum, Nashville Tennessee
2018 Delusional Art Competition Finalist
2017 Rise Art Prize Finalist
2017 The 19th Annual International Portrait Competition, Portrait Society of America, Certificate of Excellence award
2016 The Artist’s Magazine Annual Art Competition Finalist, Portraits and Figures, “Haircut type 1”
2014 The Artist’s Magazine Annual Art Competition Finalist, Portraits and Figures, “Changing Tide”
2014 The Artist’s Magazine Annual Art Competition Finalist, Portraits and Figures, “Sun”
2014 International Artist Magazine People and Figures Finalist, “Closet”
2012 Academy of Art, Spring Show Figurative 2nd place
Museum Exhibition
2020 Martin Shallenberger Artist in Residence Solo Exhibition, Cheekwood Museum, Nashville Tennessee,
Solo Exhibition
2024 “Cumulus”, Marrow Gallery, San Francisco, California
2024 “Midwest”, Abend Gallery, Denver, Colorado
2023 “The Water Series”, Harris Harvey Gallery, Seattle, Washington
2023 “Transvaluation”, Marrow Gallery, San Francisco, California
2022 “Format”, Marrow Gallery, San Francisco, California
2022 ”In the Distance”, Harris Harvey Gallery, Seattle, Washington
2021 “Running in the 90’s”, Marrow Gallery, San Francisco, California
2021 “Outview” Abend Gallery, Denver, Colorado
2020 “2020”, Marrow Gallery, San Francisco, California
2020 “Flatness and form”, Two person show, Harris Harvey Gallery, Seattle, Washington
2019 “Digital Homunculus”, Marrow Gallery, San Francisco, California
2017 "Fan Fiction", Abend Gallery, Denver, Colorado
2014 “Windows and Doors”, Hespe Gallery, San Francisco, California
2013 “From Dissonance”, Hespe Gallery, San Francisco, California
2012 “New Works”, Hespe Gallery, San Francisco, California
Group Exhibitions
2019 “The Land”, Abend Gallery, Denver, Colorado
2019 “”Figurative vs Abstract” Salt Fine Art, Laguna Beach, California
2019 “artMRKT”, artMRKT, Fort Mason, San Francisco, California
2019 “The Space Between”, Marrow Gallery, San Francisco, California
2018 “Mini Show”, Abend Gallery, Denver, Colorado
2018 "Delusional Art Competition Group Exhibition", Jonathan Levine Projects, Jersey City, New Jersey
2018 “5X5”, Abend Gallery, Denver, Colorado
2016 “Edge of Realism”, Abend Gallery, Denver, Colorado
2016 "First Street Gallery's MFA National Art Competition Group Show", First Street Gallery, New York, City, New York
2016 “Landscape Group Show”, Abend Gallery, Denver, Colorado
2016 “Contemporary Figuration”, Abend Gallery, Denver, Colorado
2016 “artMRKT”, artMRKT, Fort Mason, San Francisco, California
2015 “Summer Group Show”, Hespe Gallery, San Francisco, California
2015 “Academy of Art University Spring Show Exhibition”, San Francisco, California
2015 “artMRKT”, artMRKT, Fort Mason, San Francisco, California
2014 “Art Silicon Valley”, San Mateo Event Center, San Mateo, San Francisco, California
2014 “artMRKT”, artMRKT, Fort Mason, San Francisco, California
2014 “Moving Exhibition” Group Exhibiton, Hespe Gallery, San Francisco, California
2013 “Help to Build a School in Myanmar Charity Auction by Lumas”, Artnet Auctions
2013 “Academy of Art University Spring Show Exhibition”, San Francisco, California
2013 “artMRKT”, artMRKT, Fort Mason, San Francisco, California
2013 ”20th Anniversary Exhibition”, Hespe Gallery, San Francisco, California
2013 “Nudes”, Hespe Gallery, San Francisco, California
2012 “Outliers”, Hespe Gallery, San Francisco, California
2011 “Outliers”, San Francisco Design Center, San Francisco, California
2011 “Small Works”, Hespe Gallery, San Francisco, California
2011 “Benefit Silent Auction”, STUDIO Gallery, San Francisco, California
2011 “Academy of Art University Spring Show Exhibition”, San Francisco, California
Select Press
Creative Boom Magazine, July 2018
Kunstenaar Magazine Feature, Number 49, December 2017
The Artist’s Magazine, Competition Spotlight, November 2017
The American Scholar Magazine, Portrait of the Artist, June 2017
Visual Art Source, Review by DeWitt Cheng, November 2014
Juxtapoz Magazine, November 2014
The Artist’s Magazine, Annual Art Competition, December 2014
International Artist Magazine, Challenge #82, People and Figures, #98 August/September issue, 2014
Fine Art Connoisseur feature article in Fine Art Today Newsletter “Hiroshi Sato: Painting and Optics” July 2013
Art Business News Magazine, Top 30 artist under 30, Fall 2013
Southwest Art Magazine, 21 under 31. September 2011.
Links to Online Press
Creative Boom
https://www.creativeboom.com/inspiration/hiroshi-satos-latest-paintings-show-a-quieter-san-francisco/
Creative Boom
https://www.creativeboom.com/inspiration/hiroshi-satos-geometric-paintings-that-look-as-though-they-have-been-folded/
Rise Art Painting Perception
https://www.riseart.com/article/2018-02-01-artist-interviews-painting-and-perception-with-hiroshi-sato
The Art Shelf
http://www.theartsshelf.com/2017/12/12/rise-art-announces-shortlist-for-its-10000-global-art-prize/
Rise Art Prize finalists
https://www.riseartprize.com/finalists/
Kunstenaar Magazine
www.kunstenaar.nl/inhoud-nummer-49
Design is kinky
http://designiskinky.net
BOOOOOOM
https://www.booooooom.com/2017/11/28/artist-spotlight-hiroshi-sato/
The Silverlake Voice
http://www.silverlakevoice.com/interview/hiroshi-sato-exploring-inner-reality/
The American Scholar Magazine, 2017
theamericanscholar.org/hiroshi-sato/
Juxtapoz Magazine, November 2014
http://www.juxtapoz.com/current/hiroshi-sato-windows-and-doors-hespe-gallery-sf
Visual Art Source, November 2014
Review by DeWitt Cheng
http://www.visualartsource.com/index.php?page=editorial&pcID=17&aID=2520
Art Business by Alan Bamberger, November 2014
http://www.artbusiness.com/1open/110614.html
Art Business News, October 2013
http://artbusinessnews.com/2013/10/hiroshi-satos-underneath/
You Called It, September 2013
https://youcalledit.wordpress.com/2013/09/19/hiroshi-sato
Fine Art Connoisseur, July 2013
Painting and Optics write up by Jeffrey Carlson
http://www.fineartconnoisseur.com/Hiroshi-Sato--Painting-and-Optics/16899429
Art Business by Alan Bamberger, August 2013
http://www.artbusiness.com/1open/080113.html
SF Art Enthusiast, April 2013
http://sfartenthusiast.com/2013/04/photo-feature-hespe-gallerys-20th-anniversary-exhibition/
Art Business by Alan Bamberger, June 2012
http://www.artbusiness.com/1open/060712.html